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Best way to go to ground..

So my setup is getting close to being all together.. And- i got to thinking-- "what if i have to go to ground cause of no trees or any other reason-- how will i do that?".. so that brings me to here.. I have a couple of senarios..

1. Do you just use your tarp and pole(if you have one) and make a small tent and dont use your hammock at all? But when you do that and if it rains-- doesnt the water come in the sides of the tarp and get you wet? What do you sleep on-- do you always take a pad to sleep on? Ill have a underquilt setup-- so i wont really have a pad with me..

2.do you rest your hammock on the ground-- and if you have bug net-- get into it? If you do this-- do you use your poles to bring up each end ---so you have some headroom and then sleep in the middle of the hammock on the ground?

3. If you do use your hammock on the ground-- how do you keep the hammock from getting punctures from being on the ground(rocks-pebbles-sticks-thinks you just dont see)-- do you use a ground cloth? When you go on trips do you always bring a ground cloth just in case you might end up on the ground? What is the best ground cloth to use?

4.What about using a 2qzq hammock protector as the ground sheet-- hammock inside of that and you in the hammock(so i can zip up the bug guard if its in summer).. Would that work or would that silnylon be too thin to really protect the hammock..

Or do you guys use another scenario that im just not thinking of? Im trying to find the best way to go to ground-- still be semi comfy and not really impact my pack weight toooooo much..

If you bring the right equipment for the right trip - you should never have to go to ground. If for some crazy reason you're in the wilderness and there are zero trees - you didn't plan well for that trip. Next time plan to camp somewhere with trees. If part of your hike leads you to a place where there are no trees and for some reason you can't keep hiking until you find trees, I've seen people hang from rocks (long straps), from buildings (inside/outside of shelters), and from trees so small you could call them large bushes.

Plan smart, pack smart, be prepared. Avoid the ground like the plague.

I've seen pics and video on SGT Rock's site showing the hammock on the ground suspended from two guyed off trekking poles.

But the scenarios I can see where I might need to go to ground are ones that involve unexpected weather conditions, or something unforseen where I don't have the time to set up before needing shelter, or render the use of the hammock inadvisable (kind of a "I'll know it when I see it." kind of thing). Shelters under those conditions need to be simple and fast. I carry an REI Minimalist bivy sack and an Exped Bivy Poncho for those conditions. If hiking from a base camp, I carry them along in case I may need shelter when away from base camp. The Bivy doesn't weigh much or take up much space and the poncho is a necessity that should never be left behind.

On trips where I may have to go to ground, I will pack my NeoAir pad. This is a 400g weight penalty, but even with that on board, my groundable hammock kit is about 500g lighter than my tent kit.

Your Questions:

1) I will use the WBBB as bivy and run the hammock suspension and ridgeline inside the tarp pitched as tent with hiking poles. Will also experiment with shortening the ridgeline in this mode as suggested by E.A.Y. (Liz) in my thread.

2) Yes, that is the plan. Hammock suspension will run to the poles which will be supporting the tarp ridgeline.

3) Groundcloth. I had originally planned a tyvek groundcloth, but then I saw the ZPacks Cuben version. It has raised edges and weighs in at 76g. Expensive, however...

4) The better 2qzq hammock protector for hammock use is the non-waterproof one, that kind of makes it not as good as a groundsheet.

For me personally, I'd never put my blackbird on the ground. In the past 2 years, I've only had to go to ground once and I knew I'd have to do that. I packed for it and used a tarp with my short DAM. There was no rain expected so I didn't put my tarp up, just spread it on the ground and put my mat on top of it. Well it rained anyways towards morning. I simply pulled the tarp over me and went back to sleep. It wasn't an ideal sleeping night but I got through it.
If I'm backpacking, I always carry a sit pad and a small piece of tyvek (about 2'x4'). This could be used to go to ground along with my backpack. And my boots can support my head. Tarp is put up using my trekking poles. Again it wouldn't be an ideal sleeping situation but I'd get through it.
I try to test out all my gear in the backyard. I have tried just my tarp in very heavy rain. If I was out backpacking and in that situation, I already know that I would not be sleeping because even in my backyard, there was no dry place to sit. Much less lay down. The rain water was running in rivers under my tarp. Now if the rain is light, that's a different story.

Planning your trip well is the best thing you can do. Then pack for the area you're gonna be hiking in.

On my rafting trips, you don't know which camp sites along the river will be assigned, until the day you launch. I have had one occasion where I had to go to ground on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. The few trees were very large and 50' or more apart. I even had tri cams for rock rigging, but to no avail. I was a tarp camper before I was a hammocker, which is my preference over a tent. You can raise the edges of you ground cloth with dirt or anything else to prevent water from running across it. You can also dig a small drainage channel around the high side, a few inches deep. If it is buggy, I will lay inside my hammock with the netting suspended by the tarps rigging.

I also carry a Neoair, and a Big Agnes for my wife, just in case.

We are now ready to start our way down the Great Unknown.We are three quarters of a mile in the depth of the earth.We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknow river yet to explore.What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly. Powell 1869

As part of my regular trips gear I carry a Gossamer Gear Murmur or Gorilla pack with a GG Nightlight pad as a pack back support that I can use as a sleeping pad. I also carry a Zpacks cuben tarp and a cuben rain kilt that I use as a ground cloth. Of course I prefer to hang but I carry these items all the time anyway. I may use this setup for the JMT next year when I expect to have to go to ground. I used this setup three nights in Maine last year along with Tylenol PM and slept ok.

Like Scotty I was a tarp camper pre hammock, so going to ground isn't that hard. Granted, I don't have a waterproof ground cover, & I carry close to zero padding (just the CCF liner in my pack). But if I set up like a lean to, I can use part of my tarp as ground cover, & if it's that bad that I had to go to ground, I'm probably not going to get much sleep anyway, so padding is a luxury, not a necessity. I would try to set up the hammock, but failing that It would be OK as a bivy sack, assuming the bugs were that bad.

When you have a backpack on, no matter where you are, you’re home.
PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.

If you bring the right equipment for the right trip - you should never have to go to ground. If for some crazy reason you're in the wilderness and there are zero trees - you didn't plan well for that trip.

This is probably right for short trips/hikes - but if you're going on a multi-months trip it's impossible to be sure about conditions.

I got into hammocking in preparation of a 6-months trip, which was mainly globetrotting with a couple of days hiking and some weeks cycling. I was pretty sure that going ground would happen a lot. I badly wanted to take my hammock, so I added a small Tarptent. Of course this is not a great solution with regards to weight and volume. I felt the additional 1kg a lot when cycling uphill. But I wasn't sorry for the decision to take a tent.

By the way: Hennessy has some photos of a ground set-up. You need to scroll down a couple of photos. Looks OK as long as you don't have to do it too often.